John Ubinger (J.D. 1973)

John W. Ubinger, Jr., a senior vice president with the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and 1973 graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association for enhancing and furthering the practice of environmental law.

Ubinger is a former chair of the Environmental and Energy Law Section of the PBA and has more than 35 years of broad-based experience in environmental law, including environmental compliance counseling, litigation and dispute resolution.

Throughout his career, Ubinger has been a tireless advocate of environmental dispute resolution and helped establish a number of important initiatives to promote problem-solving in environmental matters without the need for litigation. In 1987, he formed and chaired a committee to develop, promote and implement alternative dispute resolution in environmental law. He also served on the steering committee of PennAccord and was a liaison between PennAccord and the ACBA Environmental Law Committee.

Ubinger teaches graduate courses in conflict resolution at the Center for Environmental Research and Education at Duquesne University.

He was also a founding director and has served as an officer of the Allegheny Land Trust.

Prior to joining PEC in 2008, Ubinger was an attorney in the Pittsburgh office of Jones Day, where he led that office’s environmental practice from 1990-2008. He also practiced in the Pittsburgh office of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott from 1973–1990 and chaired that firm’s environmental practice.